Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 17 years after the trip. It should be noted that it was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

The Roosevelt Gate, which could also be known as the “Gate to Heaven,” stands at the north entry to Yellowstone National Park. While the rest of the trip might have been taken at a fast pace, we have two nights in the area in order to get a good dose of the place.

On the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs for sunrise, such a wonderful place to catch the sun’s arrival.

We learned long ago that one of the treats of Jutta visiting us in the United States is to be found on the occasions when we can bring her back to a place she never thought she’d get to visit even once in a lifetime, such as what we’ve done taking her to the Grand Canyon time and again.

Then there’s our own curiosity following our first encounter with Yellowstone back in early 2000 when we saw the remnants of the destructive force of the big Yellowstone fire of 1988 that burned for approximately five months. Each time we return to this place, we are scouring our own memories, looking for signs of change and regrowth.

This might not be the conventional or popular view associated with Yellowstone, but I find that unfortunate as the diversity of landscapes on offer is incredible. One can only wish to be on hand for a couple of more years to see the evolution of changes due to the seasons, water levels, cloud cover, lighting, and the rest of the environmental factors that impact the view.

If you were to ask Caroline or me, you’d learn that we’ve never met a boiling cauldron of gaseous mud that we didn’t love, not that one gets to encounter such things on a regular basis.

Behold an evolved skin-removing device capable of snuffing out the life of those who tempt the gods of crusty edges found at the hot springs of Yellowstone.

Almost worse than someone dying in a hot spring is the damage done to the surfaces around the springs, where visitors have to witness that idiots preceded their own visit. For those who somehow don’t know, this is the Grand Prismatic Geyser.

Sure, a bison, elk, or bear might walk across this, but they live wild; we live with intention and are often capable of following rules. Heck, just to visit Yellowstone, a person most obviously has been able to maintain a job somewhere otherwise, how’d they afford to get themselves to this remote corner of America? To the best of our ability, these places shouldn’t be trampled underfoot by hordes of people neglecting their responsibility to help preserve such treasures for those who follow. And of the bear that walks across this? There will never be thousands of them per day.

We are staying at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins, obviously in a cabin.

Once we were checked in, the next obvious stop would be Yellowstone Lake.

Followed by that favorite area called West Thumb.

This being our 5th visit to Yellowstone, there’s a certain calm allowed in chasing around to see it all; we can just go slow and take in the detail at a pace I’m certain my mother-in-law is a lot more comfortable with, too.

I’ll never tire of the phenomenon when the environment is so big that we can see a storm off in the distance and dream of its ferocity and just go on with our sightseeing like the bad weather is a million miles away until it’s not.